Advania reacts to Icelandic Equal Pay Standard Laws

Wed, Mar 07, 2018 09:00 CET

The Icelandic government has passed legislation aimed at eliminating gender based wage difference. The legislation is unique and has received much attention globally. Advania has developed a software solution to facilitate compliance with the law, helping to eliminate the gender based difference in wages.

Iceland has a long standing record as one of the world‘s most egalitarian countries and is referenced as a „stand out“ economy on the World Economic Forum‘s Inclusive Development Index. Iceland was the first country in the world to democratically elect a woman as president and the current PM is the second woman to hold that position.

Despite an admirable equal rights record, official surveys suggest that women still are held back in the workplace and currently an unexplained wage gap of 7-18% can be observed both in the private sector and in public service.

Responding to this, the Icelandic Parliament has passed legislation aimed at eliminating this wage difference. The legislation is thought of as unique and has received global attention. The laws require workplaces employing more than 25 people to fulfil an Equal Pay Standard. The Icelandic government has established a standard (ÍST 85) specifying what workplaces need to do in order to be certified. Following this, all salaries should be determined according to standardised procedures.

Industry specific auditors perform the necessary accreditation needed to receive the Equal Pay Certificate. The largest workplaces must complete the process in 2018, but smaller workplaces are extended a longer grace period to adjust to a new legal environment. Workplaces that do not comply with the law risk hefty fines.

Advania in Iceland has developed a solution for companies to help them eradicate gender based wage difference and easily comply with the new Icelandic Equal Pay Standard Legislation. The solution is called easyEQUALPAY and consists of consultation and software that surveys and monitors salaries within the workplace. The solution is an addition to the H3 Human Resource system that is already used by numerous Icelandic companies. The system manages hiring procedures and salaries and now also offers an easy way to provide the information required for the Equal Pay accreditation. The solution offers an easy and reliable way for companies to discover gender based discrepancies when it comes to salary decisions and provides an opportunity to correct these discrepancies.

Advania is proud to provide a solution that supports important legislation aimed at increasing equality in the workplace.

Image text: The Icelandic Parliament voted in favour of legislation that aims to eradicate gender based wage difference. Pictured is Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Icelandic PM with the Government of Iceland.

About AdvaniaAdvania is serving thousands of corporate clients in the Nordic region. We offer a wide range of IT services, platforms, cloud solutions and support to private- and public companies. Our mission is to help our clients to improve their business by simplifying their IT infrastructure, enhance functionality and reduce costs.

Our customers are our partners. Our corporate culture is to delegate responsibility and empower front line employees to take decisions that benefit the client. This is a success factor that retains our flexibility despite considerable growth. Advania’s vision is to enable customers to improve their performances with intelligent IT and expertise, through partnership. For further information, please visit www.advania.com #advania

About Us

Advania is a Nordic IT corporation, operating in 22 locations in Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark. The company focuses on helping customers to improve their performance with innovative use of best available IT platforms and services. Advania serves thousands of corporate customers, multinational enterprises, governments and public institutions, big, small and medium-sized companies in all aspects of society.
Advania traces its roots to 1939 when an Icelandic entrepreneur founded an office equipment repair workshop in Reykjavik. In the following decades, three separate branches of IT-companies evolved in three Nordic countries, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. In 2012 they were braided into one and Advania was formed. For further information, please visit www.advania.com.